Free Animal Behavior and Other Tales of Lycanthropy by Keith Gouveia

ready to handle the truth.”
    “Tell me about it. I learned that one the hard way, too.”
    “What exactly happened to your family?”
    Adam filled him in, no longer concerned with the man’s nakedness.
    “That’s terrible. And you say he was black with a gray mane?”
    “Do you know him?”
    “Yeah.Merik, one of our oldest.”
    “He cracked, then?”
    “It would seem so. Again, I’m sorry. Your wife’s reaction definitely proves my theory correct. It’s one thing to see it on television, but quite another face-to-face.”
    “Please, give me the strength to hunt him down and to take his place.”
    “Wait,” said the man as he sniffed the air. “Stupid!”
    “Hey! Where are you going?” Adam asked. As the man ran off, he could see his muscles bubbling under his skin. He’s transforming, but why?
    Adam hobbled after him, shifting his weight with each step. He worked through the pain and moved as quickly as his bum ankle would allow him. It was difficult to keep up with the wolf, but the snarls and broken branches kept him in the right direction. Soon he came upon a crumbled stonewall and stopped.
    It’s like something out of medieval times , he thought as he stared at the remnants of an old village. The buildings were made of stone, ancient and blackened by a fire long extinguished. The roofs were partially covered with thatch, the holes either created by the fire, wind, or animals.
    Sulfur . He turned his head side to side, but there was no sign of a demon or the werewolf.
    “Where are you?” he asked as he climbed over the fallen stones.
    A rustle in the nearby bush caused him to quickly turn to the right. The beast snarled as it leaped out from the underbrush. Its jaws clamped down on Adam’s left hand. He screamed as the fangs went straight through his palm.
    “ARGHH!” Adam shouted.
    The bite released and he inspected the four holes. Blood ran down around his wrist, trailed his forearm and dripped to the ground from his elbow.
    “You could have given me a warning,” he growled as beast changed to a man.
    “Just wanted to prove my point.”
    Oh whatever . He had to bite back tears. “I don’t feel any different. Except for the throbbing pain.”
    “Give it time. Slowly you’ll notice your senses heightening. Your skin will itch and no amount of scratching will relieve it. The first time you change it will be out of your control, but once you change back to a man, you will be able to change at will.”
    “Okay, that’ll give me time to get the van fixed up. Tell me why you ran off?”
    “Another demon tried escaping.”
    “Did you kill it?” he asked, then ripped his shirt to use as a bandage.
    “Sorry to say, you can’t kill a demon. Only send it back to Hell.”
    Adam wrapped his hand. “But I saw you rip the other two apart and they turned to ash. If you can kill an angel, then you can kill a demon. Aren’t they supposedly of the same species?”
    “Impressive. Are you a scholar?” he asked.
    “No,” Adam said.
    “When the demons breach our world, they are not whole and so cannot truly be killed. A part of them is left in Hell for safekeeping. Think of what you’ve seen today as a shadow of their true selves. And total dismemberment is the only way to send them back. That’s why we make the perfect guardians.”
    “I suppose. So what is this place?”
    “It used to be my home. Unfortunately, man cannot live near the gateways. They’re susceptible to influence. Here, the town leader set fire to each house in the middle of the night. My father got me out of the house in time, but he went back in to get my mother and neither of them came out.
    “At the time, there was no guardian here. Some of the survivors tried to rebuild, but . . . when a guardian finally came, I was a man. Like you, I witnessed her push back a demon. She noticed my lack of fear in her presence and she explained what I have to you. I, too, volunteered to help and chose to stay here. It’s my home